21st Century

Mrs. Book, Tayte, and Trey

The after school program, 21st Century, was introduced to the elementary about one year ago. “21st Century is a grant that the school received that would provide funding for activities for students in grades K-5 to help with school.  The grant requires the classes include: activities in science,math, engineering, and technology.” said Mrs. Book the director and coordinator.

When I talked to kindergartener, Tayte, I asked him what his favorite thing to do at 21st was, and he said it was Soft Seven. Soft Seven is a math game that is timed and you have one minute to answer as many math problems as possible, but when you get to a certain score, you get to a higher level and harder questions. Tayte likes it because he, “likes to figure out the numbers.” After talking to Tayte I got to talk to Trey and he also said that he liked Soft Seven.  He said that it helps him with his math facts during school hours.

Talking to Mrs. Book, she says that her most favorite thing about Soft Seven and 21st Century is, “Seeing how the students have matured over the year; they’ve gone from being dependent learners to independent learners.  It’s also exciting to see a student celebrate when they’ve completed a difficult task all on their own.”

During my talk with Tayte and Trey, I asked them if everyone should try 21st Century and they both said yes. Asking Mrs. Book the same question she said, “I think that each student should try at least one class during the week and experience new activities they otherwise wouldn’t see during the regular school session.” The new program that Mrs. Book wanted me to mention was the flag football that they will start after basketball season.  She says, “Mr. Book has agreed to teach the class and we hope to enlist the help of Bryson Herbert and Terry Graham.”

Talking with many of the other elementary students they say they like it, and by the sound of it, I think everyone should have a look into it. If you are interested, contacted Mrs. Book at sbook@genoahugo.org and she will gladly talk to you about 21st Century.